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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/22954957">Building Castles To Keep You Save</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/messedup/pseuds/messedup'>messedup</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>EastEnders (TV)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Family Fluff, Fluff, M/M, Sleepy Cuddles</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-02-29</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-02-29</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-01 12:07:39</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>1,078</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/22954957</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/messedup/pseuds/messedup</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Just some fluff of Callum being overtired and Ben and Lexi being there for him after all the pain EE put us through lately :)</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Callum "Halfway" Highway &amp; Ben Mitchell &amp; Lexi Pearce, Callum "Halfway" Highway/Ben Mitchell</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>14</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>126</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Building Castles To Keep You Save</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>This one is for Marie swan who asked for a fic of Callum snapping at Ben and Lexi that ends with lots of cuddles. Thank you again for the request and Im sorry it took a while! But I hope you enjoy it and that I could do your idea justice &lt;3</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Callum´s head was pounding. He had already taken a painkiller an hour ago, but the headache was persistent. Turning around on the sofa he squeezed his eyes shut once again, willing sleep to finally take him under. The exhaustion he felt was slowly starting to get unbearable. Between the struggle to fall asleep as his injuries were still hurting and his own as well as Ben´s nightmares waking him up almost every night as soon as he did manage to fall asleep, Callum had barely gotten a few hours of rest over the past few days.</p><p>Another 20 minutes were spent tossing and turning, before his restlessness slowly eased. Callum had almost drifted off when he heard keys turn in the look and a few seconds later footsteps came rushing up the stairs, the loud pounding mirroring that in his head. Annoyed, Callum let out a sigh.</p><p>“Can´t you get five seconds of peace in this house?”, he yelled  in the direction of the door, not bothering to hide the annoyance in his voice. Stuart had a habit of being as loud as possible, no matter how much Callum had told him off for it already. It almost seemed like he was doing it on purpose. </p><p>But as Callum opened his eyes, he was surprised to see Lexi stopping in her tracks. For a moment everything was silent. Slightly cowed by the toned of his voice Lexi took a step back to her father standing behind her, putting a hand on her shoulder.</p><p>“Come on, baby. Let´s go to the caf and see if your grandma has some cake left for us.”,  Ben said softly to his daughter.</p><p>“Ben! Im sorry. I didn´t mean to-”, Callum tried to explain, but his answer was cut short.</p><p>“It´s okay, Cal. Don´t worry. Just - get some rest.”, Ben interrupted him and before Callum could say anything more he had turned around. </p><p>Callum groaned as he heard the door fall close behind them. He debated going after them, but considering how quickly Ben had left without even hearing him out, he decided against it. </p><p>-------------------------</p><p>It wasn´t until later that day that Callum decided to message him.</p><p> <i> I am really sorry. Are we okay? How´s Lex? </i> </p><p>The answer came only seconds later.</p><p> <i> I told you, don´t worry. We´re fine. Lexi´s fine. You wanna come over later? x </i> </p><p>A sigh of relief escaped Callum´s lips.</p><p> <i> I´d love to x </i> </p><p>Still, Callum was nervous when he entered the Mitchell´s kitchen a few hours later. Even though he didn´t know if Ben would be able to hear him, he shouted out, not knowing if anyone else was in. </p><p>“Callum!”, Lexi yelled excitedly as she ran towards him. “Come with me, I gotta show you something.” She grabbed his hand, pulling him through towards the living room. Callum followed her - stunned to silence - as she jumped up and down.</p><p>He didn´t expect to see what he saw when he entered the room.<br/>
The sofa was piled up with pillows and blankets to form a pillow fort and even some of Lexi´s cuddly toys were strewn in between. Fairy lights gave the space a warm glow. The TV was already switched on, but muted, and on the coffee table an array of snacks and a pot of tea were lined up.</p><p>Callum was lost for words. </p><p>“We can watch Finding Nemo!”, Lexi grinned up at him. “Or Hannah Montana! Which one do you love more?” </p><p>Huffing out a breath, Callum tried to find his words again, then kneeled down in front of her.</p><p>“You did all this for me?”, he asked, still incredulous.</p><p>Lexi nodded enthusiastically. “Daddy helped with the blankets, but it was my idea!” Callum couldn´t help but let out a small laugh at how proud she sounded. </p><p>“But why? I should be the one apologizing to you. I´m really, really sorry for snapping at you this morning.”, he said, trying his best to show her that he meant it.</p><p>“It´s okay Callum. Daddy told me you didn´t get much sleep lately and that you´re just tired. He gets grumpy too when he´s tired.”</p><p>“Oi, just because I can´t hear you, doesn´t mean you´re allowed to slag me off, trouble!”, Callum heard Ben´s voice behind him as he came into the living room, another blanket in his hand. He grinned at Lexi.</p><p>“Thank you, Lex.”, he said seriously, then grinned again. “Finding Nemo it is then?”, he asked her and wondered for the nth time how he got this lucky.</p><p>Lexi quickly put in the DVD without wasting any time on giving him an answer, then jumped onto the sofa, right into the pile of pillows. As she searched the menu for the subtitle option, Callum turned to Ben. Wrapping his arms around his waist loosely, he pulled him in.</p><p>“I´m sorry to you and all.”, he said quietly.</p><p>“Yeah, I know. You only told me twice already. Now will you shut up with that. It´s not like you killed someone.”</p><p>Callum shook his head, huffing out another laugh. Only Ben could joke about something like that. </p><p>“Now, do I get a kiss anytime soon or-?”</p><p>Ben was interrupted halfway through the sentence as Callum smashed their lips together. Being kissed like that by Callum still made Ben´s knees go weak. He brought a hand up to his boyfriends neck, holding onto him as to not loose his footing. </p><p>They were interrupted by a pointed cough. As they pulled back from each other  they were met with  Lexi´s accusing stare. </p><p>“I´m waiting.”, she sang, they TV remote already pointed at the screen, ready to press play.</p><p>“Okay, okay. We´re coming!”, Callum said, his hands held up in surrender. They joined Lexi in the pillow fort, shuffling around until they had found a position in which they were all comfortable, curled up together and warm. </p><p>Callum tried to fight against falling asleep, but as Ben realized his eyes falling shut more and more he leaned in.</p><p>“Go to sleep, babe. Get some rest. I´ve got you.” He pressed a kiss into his hair. </p><p>They weren´t even halfway through the film when Callum drifted off, thinking that there was no place on earth more comfortable than here, cuddled up with his family.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Thank you so much for reading &lt;3 I always love to hear what you thought :) Also feel free to come and say hi on tumblr @stillamess2!</p></blockquote></div></div>
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